Thirst for Adventure

Chapter 12

Leo collapsed onto all fours on the damp sand, panting and sobbing like an animal. He knew how lucky he had been. Although he felt at first that he had not even the strength to stand, energy came back into his body more quickly than he expected, and after a few minutes he could walk back along the beach, to the spot where he had begun his swim in such carefree circumstances. The walk gradually warmed him and there was still plenty of daylight left when he reached his clothes. He dressed wearily thinking of the long hike still ahead of him. Suddenly he was feeling dizzy and weak. Yet he knew, as he had known in the water, that there was no rescue about to happen. No-one was about to drop out of the clouds and fly him back to the camp, or better still, back home. His fate was in his own hands; he had to get himself back to the security and warmth of Mayon’s caravan. With a new maturity of determination he started on the first sandhill.

Chapter Ten

No-one ever heard how Leo had almost drowned on his first trip to the ocean. The people of the fair went about their own business ea

ch day without much interest in each other’s doings. When Leo arrived back at the camp just after nightfall Jasper commented that he looked tired and Mayon asked him if the coast had lived up to his expectations, but he just gave polite answers to both of them and pushed his way in to the communal soup pot that was simmering on the fire. After he had eaten he went straight to bed and slept for twelve hours without stirring.

In the morning Jasper told him that she had come looking for him, to see if he wanted to take an early swim with her, but she had found him asleep. He was disappointed. Thinking back on the mistakes he had made in the surf, he was sure that he would be more successful the next time. Despite the danger, he was still exhilarated by his memories of the waves exploding around him. And the prospect of swimming with the beautiful Jasper was exciting. He started to imagine the two of them running n***d along the beach. He felt the blood start to race in his veins and his knees weaken beneath him and had to push the picture firmly out of his mind to get on with his decamping chores.

The convoy travelled parallel to the coast for about five more hours before arriving at Finauer, a fishing town situated on an inlet near the sea. It was a pretty place, smaller than Ifeka but still full of exotic new experiences for Leo. He had to work most of the night, however, getting the fair set up, and saw little of the town until the next day.

Soon enough, though, he and Jasper went walking through the streets and down to the wharves. Most of the boats were out but there was still plenty of activity: old people mending nets, three boats up on slips being repaired and cleaned, children playing among the piles that supported the jetties. The two young people sat on the edge of one of the jetties and dangled their feet as they gazed down at the water.

What do you think of the fair so far?’ Leo asked.

‘It’s good. Some days you’ve got nothing to do, and other days you’ve got to work your butt off. Like last night. But I like it. What do you think of it?’

‘I like it too,’ Leo said. ‘The first few days they were pretty unfriendly, except for Mayon and Jud. But they’ve been good since then. I think they just want to see if you’re going to stay or not before they bother getting to know you. That’s what Mayon said, anyway.’

‘How long are you going to stay?’ Jasper asked.

‘I don’t know’ the boy answered. ‘A bit longer yet I guess. It’s good because you get to see a few different places, and you get paid for doing it.’

‘I know I’m not meant to ask,’ Jasper said hesitantly, ‘but are you on your . . . you know . . . ?’

‘Yes,’ Leo said quickly.

‘I knew it!’ the girl exulted. ‘So am I.’

‘Are you?’ Leo asked, amazed. ‘I thought you were too old. How old are you?’

‘Fourteen,’ Jasper answered.

‘Are you?’ said Leo, ‘I thought you were older than that . . . Where are you from?’

‘Batlin.’

Leo knew that to be a city many times larger than Ifeka, away on the west coast. ‘You’ve come a long way,’ he said. ‘What’s it like?’

‘Big,’ the girl answered. ‘It’s where the River Ludi meets the Serembetter. We live right on the river, at a really nice spot where you can swim and fish.’

‘Are there other children in your family?’ Leo asked. ‘I mean, if we’re allowed to talk about things like that. I think we are.’

‘We’re allowed to talk about anything except the actual journey,’ Jasper said. ‘That’s so we don’t use other people’s experiences for our stories.’

‘Were you told a lot about it, then?’ Leo asked curiously.

‘Oh yes,’ the girl answered in surprise. ‘Weren’t you?’

‘No, almost nothing. My parents didn’t want me to go, but I picked up bits of information over the years from listening to the old men. And my father talked about his trip a bit when we were working out in the paddocks. But I didn’t really get much, you know, formal instruction.’

‘Didn’t you?’ Jasper said. ‘That’s different from me. My father wasn’t too keen but my mother was determined that I should go. She said it had been the best thing she’d ever done and she wanted me to do it too. But not many of my friends are going. They say it’s too dangerous nowadays, especially for girls. But some of my friends are doing a sort of modified thing, where they go out and camp for a few days, things like that. But it’s all pretty closely supervised. I don’t think it’d be nearly as good.’

‘So tell me about your family,’ Leo said.

‘Well . . . I’m the oldest of five. I’ve got four little sisters. My father’s an artist and my mother’s a gardener. Um, what else can I tell you? My room is in a sort of attic, looking out over the river and there’s an apple tree outside my window that I can reach when I’m hungry and can’t be bothered going downstairs. My best friend’s a girl called Pascall, who lives about a mile away. I’ve got a horse called Red and a dog called Cactus. They’re both pretty slow, but then so am I sometimes . . . I like cooking, and reading . . . and riding Red. I like swimming and I like being on my own. I’ve got a tree that sticks out over the river and I go and sit in it when I want to do some thinking. Anyway . . . that’s enough about me. How about you?’

Leo was shy, cast into the unaccustomed role of talking about himself.

‘Oh well,’ he stammered. ‘There’s only one of me. I mean, I don’t have any sisters or brothers.’ But he felt a deep wrenching pain as he said that, and although he tried to control it, his face became contorted for a moment. ‘We’ve got a farm up near Random. So we’ve got a few horses, and dogs too, though I’ve got my own special dog, called Dusty. I sort of help my parents on the farm. And I like most of the things you do . . . reading, and being on my own, although there isn’t much time for that because there’s always so much work. It must be pretty hard for my father with me being away, but there’s a fellow called Ranald who works for us when we’re short.’

Without any spoken agreement the two got up and began walking along the shoreline. ‘Do you get on with your parents?’ Leo enquired.

‘Yes,’ Jasper said a little hesitantly. ‘I get on really well with my father, but my mother’s a bit difficult. She always likes to get the last word. She’s terrible to argue with. How about you?’

‘I don’t know,’ Leo said honestly. ‘My mother’s quiet but we understand each other pretty well I think. My father — well, I guess I love him, but sometimes it’s more like I hate him.’ He thought about it a little further. ‘I suppose I can tell I love him because of two things. One is that any time anyone criticises him — like, other people my age — I get really mad at them. And the other thing is that I know I’m proud of him, and all that he’s achieved and I suppose being proud of someone must mean you love them, mustn’t it?’

‘Yes, I think so,’ Jasper agreed.

They stopped to watch a mother and two small children walking along the opposite bank of the inlet. One of the children broke away from his mother and ran towards the water, without the mother seeing.

‘He’s going to run straight into the water,’ Jasper said. But the child stopped at the edge and stood there peering at something. The mother, noticing at last that the child was missing, called to her truant son. But the boy, fascinated by whatever it was he was studying, would not acknowledge her until she had called out several times and was growing angry. And when he did answer, it was to say, ‘Come and look Mummy, come and look.’ The mother stayed where she was and kept calling; the child kept ignoring her, until the mother marched down to the water, bringing her other child with her, and dragged the little boy away by the arm.

‘Good,’ grunted Leo. ‘He got what he deserved.’

But Jasper laughed at him. ‘You are a stick-in-the-mud,’ she said. ‘I’ll tell you what that mother should have done. She should have gone down to the water, joined him in having a look at whatever he was so interested in, and then explained that it was time to continue with the walk. They had a confrontation that should never have happened. Two upset people — three, if you count the other child — and all so unnecessary. Like most confrontations.’

‘Well, there’s some you can’t avoid,’ Leo challenged. ‘What about the other day, the last day at Ifeka, when that man in the tent started yelling stupid comments at Parara and Lavolta, and Jud told him to stop. That man was so unreasonable, no-one could have avoided that confrontation.’

‘Well, I guess it’s cheating to use hindsight,’ Jasper said. ‘But I would have moved him out of the tent before I did anything. You know, get him somewhere else. Jud put him in a position where he was going to look weak in front of his friends. As soon as he did that, there had to be trouble.’

They walked on a little further.

‘I’ll tell you one thing,’ said Leo presently. ‘You know what I was saying before about love and hate, and how it’s a bit of a mixture with my father.’

He picked up a stick and drew a long line on the ground, then drew a heart on one side and a dagger on the other.